Railway signal-fusee.



L w. EDMANDS. RAILWAY SIGNAL FUSEE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24,1916.

Patented Aug. 14, 191?.

3a. 8 j r ASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATIONRAILWAY SIGNAL-FU SEE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 1a, 191 "1.

Application filed October 24, 1916. Serial No. 127,474.

, To all whom it may concern.

' mg in the end of the MANDS', a citizen of the Be it known that UnitedStates, residing at Newton Center, in the county of Middlesex and Stateof Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway Signal-Fusees, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying rawing'. I Thisinvention relates to improvements 1n rallway signal fusees,

and pertains to a novel manner of attaching a spike-carrying.

plug to the'cnd of the fusce.-

It is well known to those skilled in this art that railway signal fuseeshave a spike applied to one end and that this spike is attached to thefuses through the medium of a plug. Y

The object of this improvement is to prevent the spil're-holding plufrom loosenfusee tu e and become detached, and also to form a moreperfect closure and seal at the spike end of thefuses, in order toprevent moisture from entering the tube and being absorbed by theburning composition, thereby injuring the burning quality of the saidcomposition.

The specifications of railroads require a that the spike-end closuremust withstand a direct pull of seventy-five pounds, and the usualmethod of gluing or cementing the plugs within the tubes, unless verycarefully and thoroughly done would not stand the required test, andalso are apt to become loosened and fall out, owing to dampness andconstant handling by railway em ployees before being used.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a fusee, showing the spike-carryingend in section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the spike-endof a fusee provided with my improvement.

The construction of railway signal fuses is so well known to thoseskilled in the art that it need only to be described and shown brieflyto enable my improvement to be un derstood. The fusee tube 1 isconstructed in the usual manner of paper and contains the urningcompound 2.

y improved spike-carrying plug comprises an inner portion 3 and an outerportion 4:. The outer end of the inner plug 3 is provided with a recess5 forming an annular projecting flange 6, and the outer I, Joins W ILEYE1) member or plug 4 is provided with a central projection 7, forming anannular shoulder 8.

As shown, the spike 9 passes through the inner and outer plug members orportions 3 and 4 and preferably is provided with a large flat head 10.Also preferably the innor portion of thespike is roughened, as shown at11, and this roughened portion may extend into the plug portion 4, asshown by means of which the spike is more permanently connected with theplug portions. 1

In assembling the parts the spike 9 is driven through the inner plugportion 3 before it is placed within the fuses tube 1. Prefer. 'oly theplug portion 3 is cemented to the inner wall of the tube 1, as shown at12, and the end 13 of the paper tube 1 is doubled inward, as shown, andextends into the recess 5, formed in the outer end of the inner plugmember 3. l/Vhen the inner plug portion 3 is in position inthe fusee,then the outer plug portion 4 is passed over the spike and itsprojection 7, tightly enters the inwardly turned portion 13 of the tubeand it also is preferably cemented in position.

By this construction, it will'beobserved that the inturned end of thetube locks the inner-plug member 3 within the tube, and that the outerplug portion 4 locks the turned end of the tube so that thespike-carrying plug, cannot-be accidentally removed from the tubewithout tearing away the end of the tube. In this manner theplug-carrying portions and the fuses tube are locked together and a veryfirm, permanent and eiiici'ent spike-carrying plug construction isprovided.

' Furthermore, this manner of carrying the spike plug within the end ofthe fusee tube makes a Water and moisture-proof closure to prevent theentrance of moisture within the tube to deteriorate and affect thechemical compound therein, the loosening up of the plug dental removalor falling out.

In practice, these railway fusees are somethis art that e ra way sseeliusees are con 110 predetermined period known as live minstructed toburn for a of time and have become ute, ten minute, etc, 'tusees. It isalso welllmown to those skilled in this art that the time burning of thechemical composition is n'iuterizilly affected by moisture. That is tosay, the time of burning is lengthened by the dampening oi the chemicalcompound. The fusee is made to burn uspeciiiell length of time and therailroad operators depend upon and are controlled in the movement of thetrains according to the predetermined periodv of binning. lt therefore,necesr: on to prevent changed conditions in the chemical composition,such as is oocosionell by the entrance of moisture, and, as beforestated, the railroads subject the plug to a pulling contest, all ofwhich conditions must be met to make the article acceptable to therailroads. This improvement meets these conditions fully in the mannerabove stutezi.

Having thus described my 1 claim and desire to secure out is:

1. The combination with a fuses tube, of 2, spike-carrying plugcomprising inner and.

invcnti on, w hat by Letters Patouter plug portions interlocking withthe Nd 41 p t} d k t i eii or die .Lsec two, on 2. 5px e pass o throughthe two plug portions and pro ectingbeyond the outer plug portion.

1;. The combination with a railway signal t'usee, of :3. spike-czu'ryingplug comprising inner and outer plug portions, one por tion having itrecess and the other a pro l'ec tion, and the end of the fusee doubledinto the recess and around the projection.

3. The combination with a railway signal fusee, of i spike-carrying plugcomprising inner and outer plug portions, the inner portion having arecess in its outer end forming a surrounding flange, the end of thefuses tube doubled into the said recess, the outer plug portion having acentral projection extending into the saidrecess and tightly fitting theinturned. end of the tube, and a spike passing through the two plugportions.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aliix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN WILEY EDMANDS.

Witnesses DOROTHY R. MGKEEN,

J. B. SARGENT. Jr.

